


Balls, Belles and Broomsticks

by Woldy



Category: Harry Potter - Rowling
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Kissing, POV Female Character, Wordcount: 1.000-5.000
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-28
Updated: 2009-12-28
Packaged: 2017-10-05 09:05:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/40003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Woldy/pseuds/Woldy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Constant vigilance,” Alicia reminded herself as she bit her lip and dragged her eyes away.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Balls, Belles and Broomsticks

**Author's Note:**

> Written for  [](http://royalty25.livejournal.com/profile)[**royalty25**](http://royalty25.livejournal.com/)  who requested Katie/Alicia using the prompt 'vigilance'. 

_The Yule Ball, -2 hours_  
   
The scene in the Gryffindor bathrooms could only be described as bedlam.  
   
Hoards of semi-clad women in their best undies jostled in front of the full length mirror,  fussing over their outfits. Several witches squinted into the smaller mirrors as they carefully applied mascara and eyeliner with their wands, or layered their faces with creams, powders and charms.  
   
Somebody had turned on the Wizarding Wireless, which was belting out Celestina Warbeck at full volume. The cacophony of Celestina and two dozen girls mixed with the stink of perfume and fake fruit scents to create a full-on sensory assault.  
   
Alicia finished her shower and grabbed a towel, determined to make her escape as soon as possible. As she stepped out of the shower cubicle and was confronted by the sight of one girl painstakingly charming her hair straight while her neighbour bewitched her own to form loose ringlets. It made no sense.  
   
“This one?” enquired one of Alicia’s dorm-mates, holding up a pink dress, “Or this?” waving another in blue satin.  
   
“Hmmmn, what colour are your shoes?” her friend asked.  
   
“Silver, so that doesn’t help.”  
   
“Blue and silver would look nice, but maybe a bit Ravenclaw,” the friend said, head tilted to one side, “Or you could borrow Julie’s-“  
   
“Excuse me,” said Alicia as she weaved through the crush of bodies, before reaching the relative sanctuary of the stairs. She was running back to her dorm wrapped in a towel when Katie emerged.  
   
“Hey,” said Katie.  
   
Alicia felt herself blush and clutched the towel – which now felt far too small – a bit closer. Which was ludicrous because they’d been in the Quidditch changing room together dozens of times and she was a year older than Katie, so really she should be more composed. It must be the stupid ball, she decided, it had everyone on edge.  
   
“You’re getting ready, then,” Katie continued, with her usual friendly tone, “Big date?”  
   
“No, actually…” Alicia said, feeling awkward and flustered. “Two guys asked but I, um…”  
   
“Wasn’t into it?” Katie supplied. “Yeah, I get that. This fuss is mad; you’d think girls had nothing better to think about.”  
   
“Right. Exactly,” Alicia said, lips curving into a smile.  
   
Katie smiled back, revealing dimples on her freckled cheeks. “I was about to go flying actually, cos our dorm is chaos. Shame that you just showered or you could come with me.”  
   
“Well…I can shower again,” Alicia volunteered.  
   
“Yeah? Great, I’ll see you in the common room,” Katie said. She disappeared down the stairs, looking almost boyish with those slim hips, long legs and muscled arms. It was the perfect build for a chaser and part of the reason that Katie was so good; far better than Alicia herself. Not that it really mattered, since they were on the same team.  
   
   
_The Yule Ball, -1 hour_  
   
The broom shed was dusty, familiar and smelled of linseed oil wax and stale sweat from the Quidditch pads. Katie bent over, revealing a line of pale skin on her hips which Alicia longed to touch.  
   
“Constant vigilance,” Alicia reminded herself as she bit her lip and dragged her eyes away.  
   
Katie straightened up, holding both their brooms and with a Quaffle tucked under her arm. “All right?” she asked, and Alicia blushed a bit as she nodded.  
   
To start with they just messed around on the brooms, enjoying the size and unusual emptiness of the pitch, but when you put two Chasers together then someone’s sure to introduce a Quaffle.  
   
Katie threw an easy pass that Alicia returned a bit faster and before long they were making some tricky shots: long reaches, awkwardly low balls and several with an unpredictable spin.  
   
If this was a Quidditch practice then Alicia would’ve kept her eyes on the ball, but since it wasn’t she felt free to glance at Katie, observing her ease and elegance in the air.  
   
After playing together for several years, Alicia could almost always predict Katie’s passes or manoeuvres and she knew that it went both ways. This intuitive understanding was part of what made them a good team, but Alicia sometimes thought that it was more than that. When they were flying together, Katie seemed to understand her better than anyone in the world.  
   
Katie threw a tough shot with a wicked spin that made the ball dip at the last minute, and Alicia’s fingers brushed the Quaffle as it fell beneath her broom. “Damn”, she said, and looked up to see Katie smiling softly. “What are you so happy about?”  
   
“We have the best view at Hogwarts right now, “Katie replied, flying towards her. “Look.”  
   
Alicia turned and saw the castle silhouetted against a pink sky as the sun set behind it. “It’s beautiful,” she said, enjoying the view as she rarely did on a broomstick because those flights were training or competition, always serious.  
   
Katie hovered beside her, close enough that their kneepads bumped together, and it suddenly occurred to Alicia that the scene was almost romantic.  
   
“Well,” she said, spoiling the moment before her imagination got too carried away. “I guess we should go back in. Aren’t you meeting someone?”  
   
“Nah,” Katie said easily, “I think I prefer girls and none of them offered.”  
   
 “You can go with me if you like,” Alicia said, doing her best to sound casual.  
   
Katie turned to look at her, expression hard to interpret against the darkening sky. “I’m ok with it. Don’t feel obliged or anything.”  
   
“I don’t,” Alicia replied, heart racing. “I mean, I don’t feel obliged. I like spending time with you.”  
   
Wow, this had to be the vaguest attempt to ask anyone out, ever. It was worse than Harry’s mumbled “Wannagoballwimme”, which had kept Fred and George amused for days. “He wasn’t chosen for skills with the ladies, was he?” George had remarked.  
   
Katie didn’t seem to mind the vagueness, though, because she said, “All right. I’d like that a lot.”  
   
Katie stretched out a hand, tracing her gloved fingers down Alicia’s arm in a way that made her skin feel hot even under the robes and jumpers. It was a gesture which might be the prelude to a kiss, if they weren’t both on broomsticks.  
   
After a moment Katie said, “Maybe we should go back in so I can get ready for my date.”  
   
“Oh yes?” asked Alicia, taking up the joke. “You wearing something fancy?”  
   
“I was thinking plain blue dress robes over jeans,” Katie said nonchalantly.  
   
 “Cool. Your bum looks great in jeans.”  
   
“You’ve been watching my bum?” Katie said, raising her eyebrows.  
   
“Of course I have. Why dyou think I missed that catch?”  
   
Katie laughed, cheeks dimpling again in the pink light. “Come on, then,” she said, taking Alicia’s left hand and entwining it with her right.  
   
They flew back towards the brightly lit castle, where they could already hear music. Hand in hand with Katie, Alicia felt emboldened to re-enter the fray of preening, prettifying girls who were looking for love in all the wrong ways and places.  
________________________________________________________________________  
   
_The Yule Ball, +2 hours_  
   
“You seen Alicia?” Fred asked with a grin as he spun Angelina under his arm. “I’d say she’s having a good night.”  
   
Angelina glanced backwards past her whirling braids and saw Katie and Alicia slip quietly out through the French windows together, apparently heading for the rose garden.  
   
“Excellent! Took them long enough.”  
   
“I know, I know! George asked them both in an attempt to hurry things along, but he just doesn’t have my charm,” said Fred easily.  
   
“That’s what you call it?” Angelina asked, looking up into Fred’s laughing eyes. “I thought it was all talk and no action.”  
   
“I’ll show you action!” he announced, whirling her with more gusto than ever. Several nearby couples stepped back in alarm.  
   
Outside, Katie and Alicia sat under the branches of a willow, where they were hidden from Professor Snape’s ill-tempered patrols. The music spilled out into the gardens as they kissed, watched the stars and discovered that you didn’t need a princess to make a happy ending.   


End file.
